CONTACT: Steve Mullen (518) 429-9486
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The Hudson Valley Community College men's basketball team is off to a 7-0 start and is ranked second in the first regular season NJCAA Division III poll that was released earlier today.
Hudson Valley garnered three of the eight first place votes and trail top- ranked Eastfield College (TX) by one vote. Three other Region III teams also received votes in the poll. SUNY Cobleskill is No. 4, Tompkins Cortland Community College is eighth and Onondaga Community College is also receiving votes.
Hudson Valley will be tested next week when it travels to Onondaga (Nov. 25), visits defending regional champion Fulton-Montgomery Community College (Nov. 27) and hosts Cobleskill (Nov. 30) all in a six day span.
The Vikings, who are averaging 102.7 points per game thus far this season, are getting several outstanding contributions. Sophomore guard Justin Gallo (Brunswick/Lansingburgh High School) is netting a team-high 20.1 points per game. Sophomore forward Datwan Hemingway (Albany/CBA) has seven double-doubles and is averaging 19.1 points and 13.3 rebounds per contest. Sophomore guard Emanuel Mayben (Troy/Troy High School) is averaging 17.4 points and 9.7 assists per game, and sophomore guard Ryne Luce (Cohoes/ Cohoes High School) is shooting 50 percent (29-for-58) from beyond the three- point line and averaging 15.4 points per contest. Sophomore forward Derick Faragon (Schenectady/Schenectady High School) is contributing 13.9 points and seven rebounds per game.
All 10 players on the Hudson Valley roster are graduates of Section II high schools.
Hudson Valley visits RPI JV for a 6 p.m. contest tonight before taking two days off for the Thanksgiving holiday.